PEOPLE VS. BONIFACIO DURANGO
G.R. NO. 135438-39 (2000)
Facts: A was charged with rape.
During arraignment, A entered a plea of not guilty. During the trial, A’s defense counsel manifested to the court that A wanted to withdrew his earlier plea of not guilty and substitute it with a plea of guilty. On the basis of the manifestation, A was re-arraigned, and this time A pleaded guilty. After the prosecution had concluded its presentation, the RTC rendered a decision finding the accused guilty and sentencing him to death.
Issue: Whether the RTC erred in convicting A despite his improvident plea of guilty
Held: Yes. When an accused enters a plea of guilty, the trial court is mandated to see to it that the exacting standards laid down by the rules therefore are strictly observed. It cannot be said that when a person pleads guilty to a crime there is no chance at all that he could, in fact, be innocent. The improvident plea, followed by an abbreviated proceeding, with practically no role at all played by the defense is just too meager to accept as being the standard constitutional due process at work enough to forfeit human life.